UPA govt apathetic to plight of farmers, poor: Modi

Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh): Accusing the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of being apathetic to the plight of the farmers and the poor, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Friday said that it allowed the food grains to rot and then sold them to liqour manufacturers at throw away prices to ‘suit its interest’.

The Gujarat Chief Minister alleged that the Congress-ruled government during its 10 years in power had failed on all fronts, even as he praised Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for pulling out Madhya Pradesh from the stigma of being called a 'BIMARU' state.

Maintaining that the government has ‘little respect’ for the farmers, Modi said that more farmers have committed suicide than people who have died in Maoist and terrorist attacks.

"The Supreme Court had ruled that food grains which were getting wasted should be distributed among the poor. The government in Delhi refused to do so and instead left them to rot and then gave them away to liquor manufacturers at throwaway prices," he said.

"Produce liquor, make the people drink, get them intoxicated so that they keep sleeping to allow the business in Delhi to go unhindered," he said, mocking at the Centre.

"Their (Congress') slogan seems to be 'mar jawan, mar kisan' going by their track record in the last 10 years."

He also took on the government for being soft on Pakistan and serving its visiting Prime Minister with delicacies after its army beheaded an Indian soldier.

"The willingness of their Prime Minister to come was in itself an insult to India," he said.

Lauding Chauhan for his development work, Modi said that he had provided irrigation facilities and gave priority to the farmers of the state.

The Gujarat Chief Minister said that in MP, more roads have been constructed in the last ten years than they were built in the last 40 years.

"Today MP is no longer a 'BIMARU' state. Imagine what will happen if Modi and Shivraj Singh Chaohan join hands and work towards the progress of the state," Modi said.